MERCEDES BENZ may soon be forced to pay compensation of up to £10,000 to UK owners with certain models if they lose a court case petitioned against them.

Mercedes Benz may face up to £10billion in compensation charges as up to half a million UK vehicles could be affected, according to a leading law firm. The latest action comes a year after Daimler AG - commonly referred to as Mercedes - was fined $870million by German prosecutors in 2019 over the diesel emissions scandal.

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Lawyers say total compensation could amount to £10,000 for each driver in the UK. This is because half a million cars could be affected with an average of two owners each resulting in one million affected consumers.

The firm also says previous damages for similar issues have been over £10,000 per vehicle.

The action comes after law firm PGMBM filed a group litigation claim against Daimler over the emissions scandal.

They claim Mercedes may have misled customers and authorities over the amount of emissions produced by their diesel cars and vans between 2007 and 2018.

Mercedes are suspected of installing something known as a “defeat device” in vehicles which would allow cars to pass testing by showing a lower reading.

The device detects when the car is being tested and limits the amount of nitrogen oxide emissions the vehicle produces.